Head Chef and Kitchen Manager

Head Chef / Kitchen Manager

The Nest NoCo | Mount Washington Valley, New Hampshire

The Nest is looking for a Head Chef / Kitchen Manager to help us build a small, highly curated food and beverage program centered around exceptional ingredients, thoughtful preparation, and beautiful presentation.

This is not a traditional restaurant kitchen. Our menu will be intentionally small and focused, and our kitchen will be primarily cold with minimal actual cooking. We are looking for someone who understands that simple food can be exceptional when every ingredient, detail, and presentation is carefully considered.

The Nest is a small startup with a small team and a big vision. We want to create something genuinely special in the Mount Washington Valley—a place where the quality of the food, cocktails, atmosphere, and hospitality all feel intentional.

For the right person, this is an opportunity to help shape the kitchen from the beginning and have a meaningful influence on what The Nest becomes.

The Food Program

Our menu will be concise, seasonal, and highly curated rather than large or complicated.

The focus will include:

• Charcuterie and cheese boards
• Thoughtfully composed snack plates and shareable small plates
• Fresh salads and bowls
• Pressed sandwiches
• House-made desserts
• Seasonal accompaniments, spreads, dressings, pickles, garnishes, and other components
• Creative use of high-quality local and regional ingredients whenever possible

We are not interested in creating an oversized menu. The goal is to execute a small number of items exceptionally well, with consistency, creativity, and attention to detail.

More Than the Food

The kitchen will also play an important role in our craft cocktail program.

The Head Chef / Kitchen Manager will work closely with the beverage side of The Nest to produce many of the ingredients used behind the bar from scratch, including:

• Fresh juices
• Shrubs
• Syrups
• Infusions
• Purees
• Garnishes
• Seasonal cocktail components
• Other house-made ingredients that support the beverage program

We want the food and cocktail programs to feel connected rather than operating as two separate parts of the business.

What You'll Be Responsible For

The Head Chef / Kitchen Manager will take ownership of the day-to-day kitchen operation while helping develop the systems necessary for a young business to grow.

Responsibilities will include:

• Helping develop and refine the opening menu
• Preparing and executing all menu items to a consistently high standard
• Developing recipes, portions, plating standards, and preparation procedures
• Managing daily prep and production
• Producing house-made cocktail ingredients and coordinating prep needs with the bar
• Preparing desserts and specialty food components
• Maintaining excellent food quality, presentation, and consistency
• Managing food inventory, ordering, receiving, and storage
• Controlling food costs and minimizing waste
• Building practical prep lists and kitchen systems
• Maintaining an exceptionally clean, organized, and efficient kitchen
• Following and enforcing all food safety and sanitation requirements
• Helping identify great local and regional products and suppliers
• Training additional kitchen employees as the business grows
• Communicating closely with ownership and the front-of-house team
• Continuously looking for ways to improve the menu, workflow, quality, and guest experience

Who We're Looking For

We are looking for someone who is both creative and practical.

You do not need to come from a large fine-dining kitchen. In fact, someone who enjoys working with a smaller menu, a smaller team, and a more intimate operation may be a much better fit.

The ideal person:

• Has strong culinary fundamentals and excellent instincts around flavor
• Appreciates high-quality ingredients and simple, well-executed food
• Takes genuine pride in presentation and details
• Understands charcuterie, composed plates, salads, sandwiches, sauces, dressings, and cold-kitchen preparation
• Is comfortable developing recipes and experimenting with seasonal ingredients
• Has an interest in craft cocktails, shrubs, syrups, infusions, fermentation, preservation, or similar techniques
• Understands food cost, portion control, purchasing, inventory, and waste management
• Is organized enough to create systems but flexible enough to work in a startup environment
• Is willing to jump in wherever needed
• Communicates well and treats coworkers with respect
• Can work independently without needing a large management structure around them
• Wants to take ownership of something rather than simply clock in and execute someone else's menu

The Kind of Person Who Will Thrive Here

The Nest will be a small business in its early stages. That means there will be days when everyone wears more than one hat.

We are looking for someone who finds that exciting rather than frustrating.

You should be the kind of person who sees something that needs to be done and handles it. Someone who cares about the entire guest experience, not only what happens within the kitchen. Someone who enjoys improving things, solving problems, experimenting, and helping create a culture from the beginning.

Most importantly, we want someone who cares.

We care deeply about making The Nest special, and we want to work alongside people who take the same pride in what we are creating.

Growing Together

Our goal is not simply to build a successful business for ownership. We want the people who help make The Nest successful to participate in that success.

As the business grows and becomes more profitable, we want that growth reflected in opportunities for our team through increased compensation, responsibility, and performance-based incentives.

We are building a small team where individual contributions will matter. The Head Chef / Kitchen Manager will be one of the most important people in establishing our standards, culture, and reputation from the very beginning.

For someone who wants to help build something rather than simply work for something, this is a unique opportunity.

Experience

Culinary and professional kitchen experience is strongly preferred, particularly experience involving kitchen leadership, menu development, catering, garde manger, charcuterie, small plates, or scratch preparation.

However, we care just as much about taste, organization, creativity, work ethic, leadership, and attitude as we do about a particular résumé.

If you understand our vision and believe you can help bring it to life, we would like to meet you.

Pay: $25.00 - $28.00 per hour

Expected hours: 40.0 per week

Benefits:

• Food provided
• Paid time off

Work Location: In person